OpenAI hires Odessia founder Francis Davidson in apparent acqui-hire
OpenAI has acquired an AI travel agent called Odessia, according to its founder, Francis Davidson. In a post announcing the deal, Davidson says he is now working for OpenAI, helping the AI lab with the future of travel. Terms were not disclosed. TechCrunch's own read is that it looks like an acqui-hire.
Davidson's announcement focused largely on how he built Odessia by directing teams of AI agents. The year-old startup raised a $6 million pre-seed round led by Sequoia and launched its AI travel agent around five months ago. Davidson says the tool had helped early adopters plan millions of dollars' worth of travel, but it has already been shut down.
An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the hire to TechCrunch: "We're thrilled to welcome Francis to OpenAI. Francis is a proven founder who has built multiple businesses to help people travel, and we're excited he's chosen to build with us." OpenAI's statement describes a hire; it does not use the word acquisition.
OpenAI has not announced any new travel-specific products or plans, and the spokesperson had nothing more to share on that front. The spokesperson did say travel is one of the areas chatbot users frequently ask about, and that 1.2 billion people turn to ChatGPT each week for everyday tasks, including planning a trip. "We see a real opportunity to make these experiences even more useful," the spokesperson said. TechCrunch adds that OpenAI counts Bookings.com, Expedia and KAYAK as customers or partners, that travel is among the main uses of personal AI assistants, and that travel was named as a potential use when OpenAI launched its ChatGPT agent in July 2025.
The hire has a second angle. Davidson is well known in the travel industry: he founded Sonder as a college student in 2014. Sonder was something like Airbnb, but focused on short-term leasing of upscale apartments in major cities worldwide. The pandemic hurt it badly, and as it recovered it went public via a SPAC but did not raise as much money as it needed, Davidson said later in a post announcing his resignation as CEO in June 2025. When a key partnership with Marriott fell through, Sonder went into bankruptcy and wound down. The bankruptcy trustee sold its name, trademarks and website domain in 2026 to TravelAI, and that site now operates as a curated guide to the kind of rental properties Sonder was known for. Before its downfall, Davidson had built Sonder into a unicorn with $143 million in revenues. TechCrunch calls him the kind of battle-scarred founder Silicon Valley often values, and says it will have to wait and see what OpenAI does with travel.
Key facts
- Odessia founder Francis Davidson says OpenAI acquired his AI travel agent and he now works there on the future of travel; terms were not disclosed.
- An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the hire; TechCrunch says the deal looks like an acqui-hire.
- Odessia was about a year old, raised a $6 million pre-seed round led by Sequoia, launched around five months ago, and has already been shut down.
- OpenAI has not announced any travel-specific products or plans, though it counts Bookings.com, Expedia and KAYAK as customers or partners.
- Davidson founded Sonder in 2014 and built it into a unicorn with $143 million in revenues before it went bankrupt after a Marriott partnership fell through.
Why it matters
The deal gives OpenAI a founder with deep travel experience at a time when travel is a common request to chatbots. The spokesperson said 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT each week for everyday tasks, trip planning among them, and that OpenAI sees a real opportunity to make these experiences more useful. OpenAI already counts Bookings.com, Expedia and KAYAK as customers or partners. Still, no travel product has been announced, so the move signals interest rather than a plan.
Who it affects
Francis Davidson, who moves from running his own startup to working at OpenAI. Early users of Odessia, whose tool has been shut down. Odessia's backers, including Sequoia, which led the $6 million pre-seed round; the source gives no detail on what the deal means for them. Travel companies that work with OpenAI, such as Bookings.com, Expedia and KAYAK, and anyone watching how AI assistants handle trip planning.
How to use it
There is nothing to use yet. Odessia has already been shut down, and OpenAI has not announced travel-specific products. People who want AI help planning a trip can keep using ChatGPT, which OpenAI says people already turn to for that purpose.
How solid is it
The acquisition itself comes from Davidson's own post; an OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the hire to TechCrunch but described it as a hire, not an acquisition. The label acqui-hire is TechCrunch's impression, since terms were not disclosed. Claims about Odessia's reach (millions of dollars' worth of travel planned) are Davidson's own. The Sonder history is TechCrunch's account, with the SPAC fundraising shortfall attributed to Davidson's June 2025 resignation post.
Risks and caveats
Price and terms are undisclosed, and the spokesperson is not named. The source does not say how many Odessia staff, if any, joined OpenAI; only Davidson's move is mentioned. No OpenAI travel product, launch date or plan is named, so any reading of the strategy is speculation. Davidson's record includes Sonder's bankruptcy; TechCrunch notes it was not ultimately a success story. The source does not state the period of Sonder's $143 million in revenues.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Francis to OpenAI. Francis is a proven founder who has built multiple businesses to help people travel, and we’re excited he’s chosen to build with us.”
— OpenAI spokesperson, to TechCrunch